Scandal in Odessa: City Hall replaces windows in the lyceum for 33 million that were already replaced by benefactors.

The Odessa City Hall decided to spend 33 million UAH on the repair of the lyceum, in the yard of which a rocket fell in December 2023. However, the prices of building materials turned out to be significantly overestimated, and moreover, the repair had already begun at the expense of benefactors. This is stated in the investigation by «Our Money».

It is noted that the Department of Capital Construction of the Odessa City Council ordered the overhaul of the school for 32.54 million UAH on August 26.

In December 2023, a Russian rocket hit the lyceum's yard, as a result of which windows and doors in the building were blown out, and the facade, walls, and plaster in the rooms were damaged. In February 2024, a project for major repairs was ordered.

Later, according to the mayor of Odessa Hennadiy Trukhanov, «during the examination, it turned out that the explosion significantly damaged the technical characteristics of the building. It needs urgent repair of structures, foundation reinforcement, etc.». The project was handed over to the Capital Construction Department and 35 million UAH was allocated.

However, in May 2024 a report was published from this lyceum, where the repairs were already underway. In particular, windows were being replaced at the expense of a Charitable Fund.

In July 2024, a tender was announced for the major overhaul of the lyceum for 32.54 million UAH. The company is to complete the work by April 2025. In the final resource statement, the largest amount of 5.65 million UAH goes to metal-plastic window blocks with unknown characteristics at 11 217 UAH per square meter, which significantly exceeds market prices.

Journalists emphasize that recently, in a tender for the reconstruction of a damaged lyceum in Fastiv in the Kyiv region, metal-plastic window blocks made of Rehau Euro70 profile with double-glazed windows 4-10Ar-4-10Ar-4i were accounted for at 4,400 UAH per square meter.

Other materials are also described very unclearly, the investigation notes. For example, unknown dry plaster gypsum mixtures cost 20.64 UAH per kg. On the Epicenter website, only Alba Start plaster in the smallest packaging of 5 kg was found at a comparable price of 19.80 UAH per kg. Other brands in larger packaging are cheaper. The popular Knauf MP 75 plaster is sold there for 12.64 UAH per kg. The report shows AyGips Izo Start plaster, which is sold at Epicenter for 13.20 UAH per kg.

It is noted that the contract price is dynamic, i.e., they can pay at prices different from the estimate. The estimate includes an average worker's salary of 13,708 UAH. According to the Pension Fund, the average salary indicator for pension calculation is higher – 18,807 UAH, and the average salary for construction vacancies in Odessa is even higher – 23 000 UAH.

The Kyiv LLC «Consulting-Bud» is owned and managed by Lviv resident Lyubomyra Kozhushko. According to the analytical system «YouControl», the founders were previously Kyiv resident Viktor Ivanytsia and LLC «Intelconsulting» of Kyiv residents Serhiy Artyushenko, Andriy Kuznetsov, and Oleksandr Omelchenko. Since 2017, the company has taken on contracts worth 123.34 million UAH, among which this is the largest, the researchers note.

The tender is now being checked by the State Audit Service based on identified signs of law violations.

Let's recall that in the capital, about 30 schools do not have their own shelters, but those educational institutions that already have their own protective facilities are renovating rooms and increasing areas. The Dozorro TI Ukraine project studied Kyiv's procurements where shelters or protective facilities were mentioned in the title and found examples of significant overpricing. More details about this – on the website «Glavcom».